If it was once a science fiction author’s fantasy, it is now a reality, robots are officially in the Police.
Who would have thought that this day would come so quickly? If for the moment the use of robots in the police was worthy of a SF film Robocop, it is now a reality as the journalists of the New York Times. In effect the New York Police has just officially equipped itself with robots to guarantee more security to its citizens. What is it really? Here’s what we can learn.
New York police team up with robots
In 2021 the New York Police Department (NYPD) canceled a planned deployment of the robot dog Spot (“Digidog”) following negative public reaction. While it was thought that the case was buried for good, the new mayor of New York, Eric Adams (Democrat) backtracked to reinstate the robot dog in the police force. Note that the NYPD will acquire two of the robots for $750,000 and will only use them in hostage situations and other critical situations. He explained to the New York Times in these terms:
I believe the technology is there, we can’t be afraid of it.
A few loud people objected, and we took a step back (but) that’s not how I operate. It’s the best for the city.
When science fiction becomes reality, a use that sends shivers down your spine
The robot dog in NYPD is therefore the best for the city. Note that Spot/Digidog is built by Hyundai Boston Dynamics and is designed for use in hazardous situations such as security and inspections. We can imagine the robot acting as a kind of scout to detect the potential presence of an explosive trap. But over the years we can also imagine a whole host of other uses which are not all brilliant. Like patrolling straight through the streets.
This same robot dog has also been tested for combat use by the French military, primarily for reconnaissance. This does not send the same message to the population at all. In fact, former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio was particularly critical of police use of robotics:
It’s scary, alienating and sends the wrong message to New Yorkers.
The problem is that this decision has just opened Pandora’s box in New York on the subject of robots. Indeed, in addition to Digidogthe NYPD announced the testing of two more types of security and surveillance technologies. StarChase’s Guardian HX which fires GPS tracking beacons at vehicles from a handheld launcher and the K5 ASR de Knightscope, a fully autonomous outdoor security robot that the NYPD wants to use to gather intelligence. Welcome to the future that is getting closer and closer Cyberpunk 2077…
